Newbie Oscar Question

[p_Monkey]

Hi guys

Im new here

Ive just aquired a 72x24x24 fish tank
and i would love to keep some Oscars BUT i would also like to keep a variaty of other fish in the same tank, now from what i have read Oscars seem to be a bit territorial when large. so my question for you guys is

what fish sit well with oscars and roughly how many and what kind of fish would you put in this tank?..

(Im planning on buying small fish and letting them grow)

Cheers for any advice

P_M

 

[CFC]

Oscars are one of the less aggressive large cichlids and can be combined with any fish that is A) too big to be swallowed and B) fast enough to get out of the oscars way. You could try some of the larger characins like silver dollars and related species for a schooling mid water fish and a group of the larger pimeloid cat fish such as Sorubim lima or Pimelodus ornatus as a bottom dweller, large plecs also make good tankmates for oscars. Other cichlids can also be added but there will be aggression at times so make sure that they are evenly matched in both size and temperment, green terrors (Aquidens rivulatus) and firehead cichlids ( Cichlasoma synspilum) are both commonly found suitable cichlid tankmates.

 

[jams.alaskan]

Wow, that's so cool CFC! I was sure the answer was going to be "nothing, they ARE oscars". That combo would be lovely in a tank that size.

ALASKA

 

[p_Monkey]

Cheers for the advice CFC

could any of you suggest a good fish database/info website (with pictures)

again cheers for the advice

P_M

 

[CFC]

Just one thing i should point out is that these fish will only work because of the size of the tank, in a tank less than 100 gallons you probably couldnt keep anything with a oscar without it recieving some damage or being killed sooner or later. Tank sizes make a vast difference with territorial fish and the larger the better.

A good site for catfish info and pics is Planet Catfish, sorry i dont know of one for cichlids but im sure someone will be along soon.